Lake Lanier Lost Nearly 1 Million Visitors in 2008 Print
Wednesday, 20 January 2010 17:38

Aqualand MarinaEarly results have arrived from the 1071 Coalition study of the impact of low water levels on Lake Lanier business. There are two stand-out numbers:

  • Lake Lanier lost nearly 1 Million visitors in 2008.
  • Visits in 2009 were down over 13% compared to 2000.

The Gainesville Times is reporting that around 800,000 less visitors came to Lake Lanier in 2008 when compared to 2007. During the period the lake dropped from near full to near record lows.

Those lost visitors meants millions of dollars in lost revenue to local business. Marinas lost over $400,000 in concession income. Visitors that did come spent over $180 million in the area.

Comments (3)Add Comment
lakeman
lakeman
January 21, 2010

Lake level up . . . money up. Lake level down . . . money down.

Lanier's two year record low levels were man-caused. Sure it was during a drought, but the huge discharges, for no "real" reasons, was a catalyst for the economic disaster on and around Lanier.

steve
steve
January 21, 2010

Yep, a was a really nasty double-whammy for our local economy.

I'm also interested in the fact that visits in 2009 were down over 13% compared to 2000. Have we really spent a whole decade going backwards in tourism? It wouldn't surprise me.

lakeman
lakeman
January 21, 2010

I can't seem to open the Corps lake levels for 2000 but from what I remember, the lake was about 14 feet down, new dock permits were frozen, and the economy was itching around a recession. So only being down 13% from 2000 is not a big deal. What IS a good measure is comparing say 2005-2006, hayday years for the lake and the economy, to 2009. I'm sure those numbers would tell the true story of visitor drops. My opinion; these visitor drops have more to do with the lake level drops than the economy.

Write comment
 
  smaller | bigger
 

busy
Seasons on Lake Lanier Purchased from Bankruptcy < Previous   Next > Aqualand Marina Features in New Water Wars Documentary
 

Read more articles by Steve:

Site Sponsors